ST. PETERSBURG, FLA — As a Division II side, the Seattle Sounders knocked out a few MLS sides in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. As an MLS side, they found out how the other half lives.

Georgi Hristov’s goal and Diego Restrepo’s late penalty save led the defending NASL champion Tampa Bay Rowdies to a 1-0 defeat of the Seattle Sounders FC. The third-round Open Cup exit marked the first time the five-year-old MLS Sounders went one-and-done in the tournament, never mind the first time they will not participate in the final.

With a quarter-hour left, Tampa Bay’s Luke Mulholland fired a shot that Marcus Hahnemann leaped to deflect. An unmarked Hristov on the opposite side was able to collect the rebound and tap the ball in. Hahnemann, deputizing for regular starter Michael Gspurning, could do nothing to stop it.

Referee Cedric Adams ejected defender Jordan Gafa for a penalty area handball and pointed to the spot.

Obafemi Martins, who came on for rookie defender Dylan Remick after Hristov’s goal, struck a low shot to Restrepo’s right post, but the Venezuelan goalkeeper dove and punched it away.

The crowd at Al Lang Stadium erupted, and unleashed more noise when Seattle’s immediate follow-ups and two corners went begging.

The Rowdies saw off the remainder, including five stopped minutes, to earn the upset and join three other lower-division teams (as of press time) that knocked off MLS teams, all at home. Minutes earlier, the NASL Carolina Railhawks beat an understrength Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0. Yesterday, two third-tier USL Pro teams did the deed, the Charleston Battery 1-0 over the San Jose Earthquakes and Orlando City SC 3-1 over the Colorado Rapids.

Tampa Bay, who entered the NASL in 2010 as FC Tampa Bay, is now 2-1 all-time in the Open Cup, having defeated the NPSL Jacksonville United 3-0 and lost to Colorado 3-1 last season when they rebranded with the original NASL team’s name. FCTB never participated n the Cup. The MLS Tampa Bay Mutiny, an original 1996 franchise that folded after the 2001 season, reached the Round of 16 in their first four years.

This time, the younger brother came out on top. (Photo: Michael Carlson, Tampa Bay Rowdies)

In their A-League/USL incarnation, the Sounders had some impressive MLS scalps themselves. They beat Landon Donovan’s Earthquakes 1-0 in the 2003 Round of 16, and in 2007 drilled Chivas USA 3-1 and Colorado 5-0 before falling to FC Dallas 2-1 in extra time.

Seattle completed its D-II Cup participation the next year by knocking off the Goats again and the Kansas City Wizards in penalties before falling to Osvaldo Alonso’s USL Charleston Battery in the semifinals.

The Rowdies play their fourth-round match Wednesday, June 12, against the winner of the MLS Portland Timbers-USL Pro Wilmington Hammerheads, who were playing at press time.

They next play FC Edmonton in league play Sunday. Seattle, which goes into the summer months with neither post-third-round Cup nor CONCACAF Champions League fixtures for the first time in MLS, returns to the league Saturday visiting Chivas USA.

6 Comments

OK, no excuses now. To make the Champions League, they have to make the MLS Cup Final. To win the MLS Cup, they have to make the MLS Cup Final. It’s all so simple now! No distractions!

Hopefully, they will be able to use Joseph’s DP slot to bring in a real DP talent to help the midfield, not a pseudo-DP who once was. Although, I guess the salary cap will have something to say about that.

The Tiffert thing still is a bit of a puzzle, I don’t believe we really got to see the whole package in his case.

When he started sounding off about the FO’s obsession with attendance numbers, I think we saw the divide forming, where the FO’s focus was below the expectations he had of them when he came here. I can only surmise that he didn’t see the commitment to winning he expected and had experienced in the Bundesliga.

This is all guesswork of course, but they’ve got to figure it out. Until they can field the quality DPs in all the slots, they will be holding themselves back. Do not sign someone and call them a DP just to say you are using the slot. Make it count.